Belleclare Nursery

[hammerwood]

After watching the video posted of Martha Stewart visiting Chris DiPaulo of Belleclare Nursery, I must admit I came away scratching my head. I've never seen nor heard of top dressing a fig in a container with an inch or more of lime. He says it came about as an accident. I can't argue with success because their trees looked strong and healthy. It just seems like the thick lime topping would eventually harden like crème brulee. Some of you knew the DiPaulo brothers and spent a lot of time at their nursery. Perhaps someone can further expand on this practice. Does anyone else do this?

[Kelby]

I haven't actually watched the video, but I was under the impression they used limestone screenings, which is a fine gravel, not agricultural lime. I used a little on some of my potted plants, but the weight stopped me from doing it to any extent.

[cjmach1973]

Some where in my house I have an article from a man in Conn. that would put 1 to 2 " of lime around his in-ground tree every spring. It was in an older Kitchen Garden magazine.

[Rafaelissimmo]

Everyone is looking for the holy grail for containerized fig growing. The fact of the matter is there is no holy grail. Sergio Carlini, the Italian fig expert, states that growing a fig in a container is the worst thing you could do to the plant. That said, many of us grow figs in containers and deal with the consequences. In ground is best. But outside a mediterrenean climate this will have its own can of worms. My two cents is that a well draining soil rich in micro and macro nutrients is more than enough to do the best job possible for a containerized fig, and the right PH is part of that. Lime is simply one way to adjust PH. No Belleclare lime miracles imho.

[Harborseal]

They used the gravelly limestone as a source of calcium and magnesium as I understood it.

[fruitnut]

Everyone is looking for the holy grail for containerized fig growing. The fact of the matter is there is no holy grail. Sergio Carlini, the Italian fig expert, states that growing a fig in a container is the worst thing you could do to the plant. That said, many of us grow figs in containers and deal with the consequences. In ground is best. But outside a mediterrenean climate this will have its own can of worms. My two cents is that a well draining soil rich in micro and macro nutrients is more than enough to do the best job possible for a containerized fig, and the right PH is part of that. Lime is simply one way to adjust PH. No Belleclare lime miracles imho.

I agree limestone on the surface is no miracle. It's better mixed into the media before planting. Even then it's only needed if media pH is below 7.